House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Congressman Brian Higgins will be the first featured speakers in the newly established Daemen College Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series, which will bring top government and public officials to campus to share their unique perspective on critical state, national and international issues.

Higgins will deliver the inaugural lecture, “From the Ground Up: Building a Stronger Western New York and Nation,” at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 in the college’s Wick Campus Center Social Room.

“This lecture series will give prominent leaders in the political and public service sectors the opportunity to share their experiences and insight on timely key topics,” said Daemen President Gary A. Olson. “By featuring speakers diverse in thought, perspective and leadership style, we will be fostering important discussions on varied issues impacting our region and country.”

Credits “Renew Local” Initiative and Strong Real Estate Market

Erie County, NY – As he concludes his second year in office, Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs once again closes the books with close to a $2 million surplus. Jacobs reported this week that he will record over a $1.9 million surplus.

“In the last two years we have generated more than $4 million in surplus funds, with no increase in the amount of employees at the Clerk Office,” said Jacobs.

Jacobs attributes the surplus to his hard working employees, his campaign to encourage residents to renew their license and registrations locally and a strong real estate market. “These funds do not stay at the Clerk’s Office but go back to the county to support the many important services that we provide to our citizens,” said Jacobs.

In 2012, Jacobs’s surplus in the Clerk’s Office accounted for 50% of the over-all county surplus.

Will post all “Clerk Plates” on county website and make available for all citizens

Erie County, NY - A long-held traditional perk of County Clerk’s has been the ability to dole out a limited number of “Clerk Plates” with such desirable prefixes as “EC or ER.”

County Clerk Chris Jacobs wants to end this practice and plans on listing all available plates on the county website with a simple request form. “Plates will then be awarded on a first come first serve basis,” stated Jacobs. “My goal here is to remove any perception of favoritism in awarding these plates.”

Prefixes other than “EC” and “ER” that the Clerk has available are “B, BF, BL, BU, CE, and E” and are the same cost as a typical license plate which is $28.75. Approximately 70 of these plates are currently available. The “Clerk Plates” can only be issued for passenger vehicles and are not obtainable for commercial vehicles, motorcycles or trailers.